Man Accused Of Drill Attack Pleads Not Guilty

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A man accused of attacking his brother with a power drill at a home in San Francisco’s Sunnyside neighborhood last weekend while out on bail for an alleged hate crime attack is now being held on no bail after pleading not guilty today to the new assault charges.

Kevin Guerin, 57, was in jail on assault and criminal threats charges with hate crime enhancements in connection with an Oct. 4 attack on his neighbor at a boarding house in the 300 block of Seneca Avenue.

Prosecutors said Guerin committed the attack because the victim was gay, a charge denied by his attorney, Deputy Public Defender Anne Irwin.

At an Oct. 11 hearing, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Andrew Cheng reduced Guerin’s bail to $150,000 over prosecutors’ objections, allowing him to be set free, prosecutors said.

Guerin then went to stay with his 61-year-old brother at his home in the 100 block of Judson Avenue, where the power drill attack occurred four days later, police said.

Around 9:40 a.m. Saturday, the brother had gotten out the drill to fix a broken door latch when, for an unknown reason, Guerin forced him into a bedroom, pushed him onto the bed and got control of the drill, police spokesman Sgt. Michael Andraychak said.

Guerin allegedly threatened his brother’s life then squeezed the trigger of the drill and brought it to his head and face, Andraychak said.

After a struggle that caused the drill bit to fall out, Guerin allegedly struck his brother in the head repeatedly with the drill while saying “I’m going to kill you,” then told him to leave the house, police and prosecutors said.

Officers came and arrested Guerin while his brother was taken to a hospital to be treated for facial injuries that are not considered life-threatening, police said.

Guerin’s new charges were assault with a deadly weapon, battery and making criminal threats, with enhancements for having committed the offenses while out on bail in another felony case, prosecutors said.

After pleading not guilty to the new charges at his arraignment hearing this afternoon, Guerin was ordered held on no bail by Cheng, the same judge that had reduced his bail the week prior.

At the end of the hearing, Irwin, his defense attorney, asked for a mental health examination to be done on Guerin, who she said outside of court has no prior criminal history.

Guerin will return to court on Oct. 27 for the results of the mental health examination and to possibly set a date for a preliminary hearing.